A team that includes researchers from the Faculty of Medicine fo the University of Porto (FMUP) and CINTESIS – Center for Health Technology and Services Research received the SPAIC – AstraZeneca Award 2022 for the project “PAAI-Programa de Autoaprendizagema Interativo e online para pessoas com asma: cocriação e avaliação de impacto” (Interactive, online self-learning program for people with asthma: co-creation and impact evaluation).
The PAAI is part of the ConectAR project, and it was distinguished in this year’s edition of the 43rd Annual Meeting of the Portuguese Society of Allergology and Clinical Immunology (SPAIC in Portuguese), held from October 6 to 9, in Porto, under the theme “The Allergic Patient at the Center of Care.
The prize, worth 5000€, was awarded on October 7 and brought to the stage not only the researchers but also the patients and caregivers who were involved in designing the project.
The winning project’s main goal is to “develop and make accessible the first high-quality online educational program for adult asthma patients and their caregivers. The innovation of the program is also to include patients and caregivers in its co-creation, thus ensuring that the program meets their needs and preferences.
This self-learning program, which will be free of charge and available in Portuguese, should benefit patients and caregivers from Portugal and Portuguese-speaking countries.
According to the team, this program will empower patients and caregivers, allowing them to increase their knowledge about asthma and their skills in this area. In addition, it will be an opportunity for them to learn more about research and have the “tools” to influence health policies in our country.
The ConectAR project, whose principal investigator is Ana Sá e Sousa, from FMUP/CINTESIS, is expected to run until the end of June 2023 and received funding from the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT). In addition to Ana Sá Sousa, the team includes FMUP and/or CINTESIS researchers Ana Luísa Neves, Cristina Jácome, Isabel Lema (person with asthma), Daniela Figueiredo, and João Almeida Fonseca, as well as researchers from other institutions, such as Emília Dias da Costa (caregiver of a person with asthma).
The SPAIC – AZ Award aims to “encourage the development of specific lines of research in the area of bronchial asthma”, distinguishing, annually, an original research project or an original work on asthma, with the sponsorship of AstraZeneca.
